Hi! I am awaiting my first LO and am planning to CD. I am moving (this weekend) from an apartment building with a laundry to one without. I am sure there are other moms out there in the same situation. What do you do? Diaper service? Do you have a small portable washer for your apartment? If so, what kind? How big is your diaper stash and how often do you have to wash, whether you do laundromat or home portable washer?

I drag my son to the laundry at twice a week to wash (we have a mixture of fitteds, prefolds, pockets, AIO everything)

he has a blast watching all the machins (front loaders) and I go crazy

its worth it though and I only wash them then bring them home and hang them on a drying rack so we are there for around 1 hour once a week and about 2 hours the other time since I dry some of some of our clothes

I have many questions. I really want to CD, but this is a sticking point for me. We live in a small apartment without a washer and dryer. The logistics of caring for diapers in such a situation seems overwhelming, but if you ladies have some ideas, I would appreciate it.

JuniperVT, how many diapers do you need for a week? Isn't the set up expense prohibitive? I would assume that you don't own the $20 all in ones, but use prefolds, but still. How many covers do you need? How often do you wash them?

Maryottk, what kind of rack do you have to dry them on? How long does it take to dry them? Do you do all of your diapers in one load?

Magali, I'd LOVE to buy a $700 washer, but that's probably not a realistic posibility for us right now.

So, when you go to a laundromat or use coin-op washers and dryers, what settings do you use to minimize the cost? What if you don't have a lot of options? Do you have any trouble with other people who see you washing diapers in public machines?

Finally, is the cost worth it? The way I see it, spending $$ on washing, drying, and gas every week plus start up costs may not actually save me over time. Is it worth the extra time, energy, and money I will spend? Is it worth it for my baby? For the environment? I won't be living in an apartment forever. Maybe I can choose an organic disposable option temporarily.

Please help.

Happy Wife since 12/31/05 ~ Blessed Mama to 2/8/09 and 6/11/11, with on the way due 2/24/14

Magali, I'd LOVE to buy a $700 washer, but that's probably not a realistic posibility for us right now.

I hear ya. It just so happens that right before the baby was born I got approved for a $750 credit card and I bought the washer with that. Didn't get a chance to pay it off for many many months...gah...don't even want to think about how much I REALLY paid for that thing...

Magali, I'd LOVE to buy a $700 washer, but that's probably not a realistic posibility for us right now.

Check craigslist. I see them cheaper all the time. We got a similar model, plus a dryer that runs on a standard current for $100 and it was like new! We actually didn't get it until we were mostly done cding, but I would have loved it while my kids were still in diapers.

JuniperVT, how many diapers do you need for a week? Isn't the set up expense prohibitive? I would assume that you don't own the $20 all in ones, but use prefolds, but still. How many covers do you need? How often do you wash them?

So, when you go to a laundromat or use coin-op washers and dryers, what settings do you use to minimize the cost? What if you don't have a lot of options? Do you have any trouble with other people who see you washing diapers in public machines?

Finally, is the cost worth it? The way I see it, spending $$ on washing, drying, and gas every week plus start up costs may not actually save me over time. Is it worth the extra time, energy, and money I will spend? Is it worth it for my baby? For the environment? I won't be living in an apartment forever. Maybe I can choose an organic disposable option temporarily.

Please help.

Hi Josie, I'm going to try to answer your questions.

I have WAY more diapers than I need & I only wash once a week. So what I'll do is tell you then smallest least expencive amount of diapers I could get away w/ having & what I use the most.

I use about 4 doz prefolds a week. I bought 3 doz new & 1 doz used(if you look or don't mind used this can cost you less than $100). I use a new cover every day & hand wash in between. I could get away w/ only having 3 covers. I like thirsties & bummis super brites (about $8 each used on diaperswappers.com or about $12 new) b/c they dry overnight & have gussets. I also have 3 snappis (1 for the diaper bag, 1 on dd & 1 extra)

I also have about 4 doz cloth wipes (my mom made these for me, but they are super easy to make or you can use cheap baby wash cloths)

At night I use a 7th gen disposable (1 pack lasts about a month). I'm working on finding a cloth solution that will last all night but is not super expencive.

For my diaper pails I use 2 5gal buckets w/ lids from the hardware store.

I have a diaper sprayer (that my husband made following directions we found on here) & we spray the poop off into the tiolet

I wash at the laundromat (top loader hot setting) & it costs me $6 (2 washers @ $2 each & $2 to dry)
I keep a spray bottle w/ a vineger & water solution that I spray the washers & dryers w/ & wipe down before I use them.
I just dump a bucket into each washer. No one has said anything negative to me. I do get some funny looks but I'm used to funny looks (I'm covered in tattoos & usually have dd in some nonmainstream baby carrier). I get lots of 'good for you's from older ladies'.

Awesome! Thanks so much for that detailed information. I can see that this is definitely doable. Kudos to you CDing in an apartment without a washer and dryer when most households who have that blessing don't bother.

Happy Wife since 12/31/05 ~ Blessed Mama to 2/8/09 and 6/11/11, with on the way due 2/24/14

Awesome! Thanks so much for that detailed information. I can see that this is definitely doable. Kudos to you CDing in an apartment without a washer and dryer when most households who have that blessing don't bother.

: this definitely calms myanxiety about it a bit and makes i feel more doable. thanks!

I used a diaper service for the first 4 months. This was very convenient, since DS used so many diapers that I would have had to go to the laundry daily! Then I switched over to my own prefolds at 5 months. I purchased about 30, 20 flatfolds and 6 covers (I rarely needed all those diapers, but having them sure made my life easier). I second junipervt on buying cheap diapers and having as many as you can afford.

I hand-rinsed the covers in the tub as needed. I washed the diapers every three days or so - took them to the laundry. I spent an average of $6-8 per week on diaper laundry. Cloth diapering is definitely doable in an apartment, just a little more work. Good luck!

I live in apartment and I use the laundromat that's about 20 feet away from the house. Since I have to do the laundry every 2 or 3 days anyway with 2 kids, I don't find one extra diaper load too much of hassle. It's actually nice since, if I run out of diaper, I have to do the laundry (which is every 2 or 3 days before i run out) and it forces me to be on top of the laundry game. If I try to do laundry once a week, I have to do 4 or 5 loads, which is bit overwhelming.

I do the regualar clothes and then do the diaper load using the same washer right after to avoid other people harsher detergent. My babe was getting diaper rash for a little while, when I didn't do this.

I have 10 prefold, 10 fitted, 8 AIO, 4 flats. It's not that hard once you get your system down.

I used to use diaper service and it's really convenient, I have to say, but pricey and you don't get to try all different kinds to cool diapers, just prefold...I guess you can go crazy with covers, though.

I have WAY more diapers than I need & I only wash once a week. So what I'll do is tell you then smallest least expencive amount of diapers I could get away w/ having & what I use the most.

I use about 4 doz prefolds a week. I bought 3 doz new & 1 doz used(if you look or don't mind used this can cost you less than $100). I use a new cover every day & hand wash in between. I could get away w/ only having 3 covers. I like thirsties & bummis super brites (about $8 each used on diaperswappers.com or about $12 new) b/c they dry overnight & have gussets. I also have 3 snappis (1 for the diaper bag, 1 on dd & 1 extra)

I also have about 4 doz cloth wipes (my mom made these for me, but they are super easy to make or you can use cheap baby wash cloths)

At night I use a 7th gen disposable (1 pack lasts about a month). I'm working on finding a cloth solution that will last all night but is not super expencive.

For my diaper pails I use 2 5gal buckets w/ lids from the hardware store.

I have a diaper sprayer (that my husband made following directions we found on here) & we spray the poop off into the tiolet

I wash at the laundromat (top loader hot setting) & it costs me $6 (2 washers @ $2 each & $2 to dry)
I keep a spray bottle w/ a vineger & water solution that I spray the washers & dryers w/ & wipe down before I use them.
I just dump a bucket into each washer. No one has said anything negative to me. I do get some funny looks but I'm used to funny looks (I'm covered in tattoos & usually have dd in some nonmainstream baby carrier). I get lots of 'good for you's from older ladies'.

you rock, kathlin.

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We live in an apartment without a washer. It's what led me to ECing! !

No, but really we hybrid b/c we had to cut down on diaper usage b/c of trips to the l'mat, cost per cycle etc.

I two top loader loads once a week and have a few dozen prefolds, 5 motherease, 4 pairs of imse vimse trainers and a handful of gerber trainers. For the trainers-if I miss a pee I just rinse and hang to dry in the bathroom and re-use until wash day.

ECing has really changed my life....it is so amazing. I never hesitate to put him in a diaper when its easier or the situation warrants and we do diaper over night, but I RARELY have to deal with poopy diapers which is a huge help with the whole no washer situation. I was hesitant to even look into it at the beginning but I was so bent out of shape trying to figure out how to cd in our situation and an ecing friend of mine told me to just take the pressure off....its not like you have to do it all the time. Even a few less diapers a day helps, right? So everytime he pees and poops on the toilet I think- "one less diaper to haul to the laundermat!"

Sad to say Tide. I have been a dedicated eco-detergent person for many, many years, but I was having such a hard time getting the diapers clean enough without being able to wash them over and over. I followed greenmountaindiapers.com direction for using a laundermat and they suggested a bottom shelf detergent.

Tide does make them really clean...I'll just believe that all my other eco-choices somehow balances this decision.

We have four dozen flat diapers which have to be changed for every pee. In the newborn stage, I was using a hand cranked pressure washer every other day, and using old t-shirts as diapers when we'd gone through all of them. Now, with ECing, the 48 diapers usually last a full week and I run one load on hot for all of them. I hang to dry on folding racks and they're ready to go in 3-4 hours.